


Mercy

by kscho



Series: Danielle Cousland of Highever [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen, So I am, i was told to post this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 10:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16808575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kscho/pseuds/kscho
Summary: Danielle Cousland is subject to a battle between Vengeance and Justice as they wage their war within her thoughts, both tugging at her will.





	Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> The characters Justice and Vengeance have nothing to do with Dragon Age's actual characters by those names. They're just proper names I've given to Dany's inner conflict to give the piece a different feel than anything else I've written.

All she desired of Vengeance was a kiss. Something soft and chaste, as it need not go any further. He was like a spirit, paired with her soul, refusing to stray far, but she didn’t mind. She felt solace knowing that Vengeance was always a part of her, whispering on the edge of her thoughts, seducing her. 

This time she wished he would stay. Vengeance was a stubborn and fickle lover, and his dances had finally come too close to ignore. She reached out only to have him smile and fade away. She cursed after him. Why continue to court her? Why torture her in her own temptations, but never have her succumb to them?

Justice grasped her hands, his fingers soft as he kissed hers. Justice was always nearby when Vengeance appeared. They were forever paired, but never identical, never with the same proposition. Justice promised his namesake to her, praying against her skin to consider his offer, and she always hesitated. Could Justice bring her the same satisfaction that Vengeance promised?

She wanted to stand tall. She begged for the release from her pain, her grief. Her home, destroyed. Her family, slaughtered. Her lover, so close to being stolen by the very men she could only dream of extinguishing. Her desire for Vengeance’s touch was so intense it hurt her, burned beneath her skin.

_ They know, _ she told herself.  _ They know I’m alive. They know what I’ve done. They know I’m coming for them. _

_ They’ll be ready for you,  _ Justice chided her.  _ Do you expect to  _ kill _ them with sheer luck alone? _

_ She’s not alone, _ Vengeance snarled.  _ The others are useful. _

_ ‘Useful?’ They’re her family! _

_ Her family died at the hands of a madman! _

_ He was never a madman, _ she told them.  _ He knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t do it out of impulsive thoughts. He knew the power my father held, knew what eliminating us would do for his own family. His name would be remembered for all of history to remember for the next five ages.  _ She reached out for Vengeance, feeling his pull.  _ He only wanted  _ more.

Vengeance pulled away and Justice took the opportunity to step forward.  _ Are you not  _ only _ his equal if you kill him? Or his superior, who betrayed your Order? How can you claim to be superior when all you have done is mimic his actions? _

_ What would you have me do?!  _ she screamed at him.

_ Vengeance is a weed, my sweet, _ Justice breathed, smiling softly.  _ ‘’Tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature.’ Weeds consider nothing beyond their own survival, their own, brief prosperity. Do they not strangle every living thing, leaving all that is beautiful to dust and decay, only to succumb to the very same? _

_ You sound like a spider,  _ Vengeance growled lowly.  _ Spinning your tale for the game and claiming it to be for ‘the greater good.’ _

_ I never claimed such a thing, brother, nor will I claim that now. My intentions are for her, and her alone. I want what will keep her soul pure. _

_ She will be greater with me. Higher than any man dream of becoming. _

_ For the lust of blood? That is what this is with you: lust. Lusting and never loving. _

_ Love is for children. _

_ And a child she is, _ Justice countered _. I will not allow you to corrupt her. _

_ You forget, brother. We are but a part of  _ her.  _ It will be her decision in the end. One will rise, one will fall. _

\---

She wanted nothing more than to drive her knife across his throat, maybe sink it deep between his fourth and fifth rib. His stance, his sneer, the hatred behind his eyes...she loathed it. The face of superiority he displayed for her boiled her blood, drawing Vengeance closer as he brushed against her shoulder. 

_ Do it.  _

_ Can I?  _ she asked, doubtful of her constitution.  _ Can I, really? _

_ You have the strength to, _ Justice replied suddenly, brushing his fingers against her cheek.  _ You  _ can.

Vengeance grinned wickedly.  _ He is like a snake in the grass. Cut off his head before he sinks his fangs into another, I implore you. _

She was silent for several moments, staring her adversary down. She had imagined this moment for  _ months, _ praying beyond hope to apply one of her fantasies. She longed to hurt him, to best him, to feel his blood across her fingers and watch the light leave his eyes. She was scared to think that she may have wanted it more than she wished things to return to normal. For the day to end and she would wake up in her bed the next morning, scowling at the sunlight peering through the drapes.

Perhaps she would run through the estate with her nephew on her back, struggling to breathe as she ran and laughed in time and evaded her brother’s chase. Her father would no doubt insist on continuing her training, whether it be with her knives or her traditional sword and shield. Her mother would catch her as she ran to the sparring grounds, tightening the laces of her tunic before a brief kiss on the forehead and wishes of safety.

“Gods spit on you,” he heaved, holding a deep cut just above his navel. “I deserved more.”

“There are many things you  _ deserve, _ ” she sighed, loosening her steel grip on her anger. “‘More’ is not one of them.” She slipped a knife from her belt and threw it expertly, humming her approval when it sunk into his shoulder. Vengeance hissed her on, baring his teeth in excitement. Justice was nowhere to be found. “You won’t bleed out, I missed your brachial artery.” It was true; the blade sunk beneath his skin between his second and third rib. 

She would remember them.

She would remember the days her brother nearly kicked down the door to wake her up. The times she would sneak out after dark to play Wicked Grace with the estate guards, shouting and laughing loud enough to wake up the whole western wing. She could see, in her mind, the way the light would dance across the tapestries of the entrance hall, her childish side imagining it was her ancestors that watched her through the shadows that were cast.

She would always remember, even if those times, those days, those feelings were forever lost to her.

“I'm not going to kill you,” she told him, towering over him as he held his bleeding shoulder with a pained expression. “You don't  _ deserve _ to die by my hand, as much as I would revel in the act.”

_ WHAT?  _ Vengeance screeched, dissolving into nothing. 

She had completed her mission. Her job was done, and there was nothing for her in Howe’s estate anymore, so she left the dungeon, leaving his fate to her companions, as if nothing was amiss.

It was then Justice leaned down for a kiss.


End file.
